The Shakespearean Ending of Game of Thrones

FATE VERSUS FREE WILL 

The conflict between fate and free will is one of the more familiar themes in Shakespearean tragedy. Are men and women bound to destiny, or do they have some choice in what their future holds?  The question haunts plays like Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar.

In Game of Thrones, that tension is a dominant theme for characters who dabble in magic and prophecy, but also for characters who struggle with their own family history and obligations. Was Daenerys destined to be a “mad queen” because of her father, or were her choices her own? Was it Jaime’s fate to rejoin Cersei and die with her as they had sworn to do in the past, or was it his choice?

In the series finale, Jon Snow passionately poses a question to Tyrion which beautifully captures the essence of fate and free will: “You think our house words are stamped on our bodies when we’re born, and that’s who we are?”

There’s a delicate ambiguity here, and room enough for the audience to wonder and come to their own conclusions. However, even Shakespeare seems to favor free will over fate. “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves” says Cassius in Julius Caesar. This reinforces a message of human ownership over deeds. Unlike in Greek tragedy, which presents the divine as the ultimate judge, Shakespeare’s characters must look within themselves for a moral reckoning.

Game of Thrones also sees its characters looking inward to discover their lasting legacy. In a poignant scene from “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” Samwell Tarly reflects on how memories give life meaning. “That’s what death is, isn’t it?” he asks. “Forgetting. Being forgotten…if we forget where we’ve been, what we’ve done, we’re not men anymore. We’re just animals.”

Fast forward to the final episode when Sam presents the finished history by Archmaester Ebrose, A Song of Ice and Fire. This is not just a wink and a nudge to the television show’s source material, but a continuation of the idea that lasting memory is humankind’s true immortality, not the gods or destiny. Certainly, Shakespeare would agree.

"Nor Mars his sword nor war’s quick fire shall burn The living record of your memory."

— Sonnet 55